Individual communion service glasses



July 19, 1966 w. A. WALKER. JR

INDIVIDUAL COMMUNION SERVICE GLASSES Filed April 27, 1965 INVENTOR Willie A.Wulker,Jr. #wflt 6 7 M ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,261,494 INDIVIDUAL COMMUNION SERVICE GLASSES Willie A. Walker, Jr., 1613 Renmark Road, Richmond, Va. Filed Apr. 27, 1965, Ser. No. 451,215 2 Claims. (Cl. 220-20) This application is a continuation-in-part of my prior, co-pending application Serial Number 351,923, filed March 16, 1964.

This invention relates to individual communion service equipment, and more particularly to a cup or glass used in such service.

It is well known practice to provide small glass vessels for individual use, containing the liquid element, and also to provide shallow receptacles associated with such vessels for containing both elements, such vessel having a permay be conveniently served to the communicant at the same time. In some cases, these shallow receptacles seat on top of the glass vessel and are completely removable therefrom while in other cases they are hinged to the top of the vessel or other suitable support.

These movable receptacles for the solid element have, however, not proven satisfactory, as they are likely to become lost or broken, and are awkward and inconvenient to handle.

The object of the present invention is to overcome these objections, and provide a combination one-piece vessel for containing both elements, such vessel having a permanently open top, whereby ready access may be had to the elements without the necessity of removing any cover or the like.

To this end, I have devised a vessel having a fixed partition dividing it into two compartments, namely a main or lower compartment for the liquid element, and an auxiliary upper compartment for the solid element.

In order that the invention may be readily understood, reference is had, by way of illustration, to the accompanying. drawing, forming part of this specification, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a vertical section through one form of my improved glass;

FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a transverse section substantially on the line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a vertical section, similar to FIG. 1, but showing a different construction;

FIG. 5 is a plan View thereof; and

FIG. 6 is a transverse section substantially on the line 66 of FIG. 4.

Referring to the drawing in detail, and first more particularly to the modification shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, my improved individual communion glass 1 may be of conventional open top shape, having a relatively small bottom, and side walls flaring outwardly at the top.

In this modification, I provide an upper compartment comprising a generally horizontal shelf or platform 3 completely enclosed by a rim or wall 2, extending across the interior of the glass, both the shelf and wall being formed integral with the side walls of the glass. The shelf 3 and upstanding wall 2 thus together form a partition dividing the interior of the glass into lower and upper compartments, the lower or main compartment 4 being adapted to contain the liquid element, and the solid element, shown in dotted lines as a cube of bread x, being held in the upper compartment between the wall 2 and the side wall of the glass. The wall 2 is, by way of illustration, shown as curved or elliptical, but may be of any desired or suitable outline. The rim or wall 2 extends upwardly around the entire periphery of the shelf or platform between spaced points of the side wall of the glass,

and its top preferably lies flush with the upper edge 1a of the glass.

While the shelf or platform 3 is shown as fiat and level, it may, if desired, be somewhat concave, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

By reference to FIG. 1, it will be seen that the wall 2 extends vertically straight downward to the bottom of the glass, as indicated at 2a, so that the width of the main or lower compartment, at every point between the top and bottom, is no greater than at the top 1a. In other words, there is no overhang. This is desirable so as to make possible the production of the articles from glass or other plastic material, on known automatic moulding machines.

The extension of the wall 2 straight downwardly as described would leave a heavy mass of material between this wall and the side of the glass below the shelf 3. To avoid this, and lighten the article, as well as save material, I preferably form a hollow core or space in this mass, as indicated at 5, in FIGS. 1 and 3. This hollow core or space is of vertically disposed, elongated form, lies between said partition and the side Wall of the glass, is of uniform cross-section substantially throughout, is open at the bottom, and extends upwardly to a point adjacent the upper compartment. The vertical wall 2a sepa rates this core from the lower compartment 4.

In the preceding figures I have shown a glass having an upper compartment designed to contain the solid element when in the form of a cube of bread. In some churches, this element takes the form of a thin, fiat wafer. To accommodate this type of element, I have devised the glass shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6. In this modification, the upper compartment 6 is formed by an upstanding partition wall 7, extending across the interior of the glass, and preferably somewhat inclined, as shown. This wall with the adjacent side wall of the glass forms an upper compartment adapted to receive and hold a wafer, indicated by dotted lines at 7. The top of the wall 7, as in FIG. 1, is preferably flush with the upper edge In of the glass, and the depth of the compartment 6 is such that the wafer projects above the top of the glass so that it may be readily grasped by the fingers and removed.

Since the wafer is fiat, the wall 7 may be made straight, as shown in FIG. 5.

The wafers in common use may be either round or square, and may vary somewhat in size, but a compartment of the general type shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 can be made to accommodate the size and shape desired. In the case of a square wafer, it can be placed in the compartment diagonally, with one corner down and the opposite corner up.

As in the preceding figures, I construct this modification in the same manner, namely, the side of the wall 7 adjacent hte lower compartment extends vertically straight down, as shown at 7a in FIG. 4, so that at no point is the main or lower compartment 4 any wider than it is at the top. I also preferably lighten the article and save material by providing an elongated hollow core or space 8, extending vertically from a point adjacent the upper compartment to and through the bottom of the glass, such core lying on the opposite side of the vertical wall 7:: from the lower compartment 4.

What I claim is:

1. An individual communion service glass having an open circular top and a fixed partition dividing it into two compartments, namely, a lower compartment to contain the liquid element, and an upper compartment to contain the solid element, said upper compartment lying wholly within the circular outline of the top of the glass, at least a portion of said partition comprising a vertical wall with its top edge substantially flush with the upper edge of the glass, and extending straight down from said upper edge to the bottom of the glass, the width of said lower compartment, at every point between the top and the bottom, being no greater than at the top, said glass having a vertically disposed, elongated hollow space bet-ween said pa-rtition wall and the side wall of the glass extending from a point immediately beneath said upper compartment to the bottom of the glass, said space being open at its lower end.

2. An individual communion service glass having an open circular top, and a fixed partition, including an upstanding wall, extending across the interior of the glass between two spaced points and dividing it into two cornpartments, namely, a lower compartment to contain the liquid element and an upper compartment to contain the solid element, said upper compartment lying wholly within the circular outline of the top of the glass, and having a generally horizontal bottom, the side of said wall adjacent said lower compartment extending straight down vertically from its upper edge to the bottom of the glass, said 20 glass having a vertically disposed, elongated hollow space between said partition wall and the side wall of the glass extending from a point immediately beneath said upper compartment to the bottom of the glass, said space being open at its lower end, and being of uniform cross-section substantially throughout.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,759,866 5/1930 Raab 2156 X 2,215,691 9/1940 East 215-6 X 2,233,160 2/1941 Eisen. 2,677,350 5/1954 Prestidge 220-20 X 2,912,134 11/1959 Kuhlman 215-6 X FOREIGN PATENTS 481,269 9/ 1929 Germany.

JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner.

FRANKLIN T. GARRETT, Examiner. 

1. AN INDIVIDUAL COMMUNION SERVICE GLASS HAVING AN OPEN CIRCULAR TOP AND A FIXED PARTITION DIVIDING IT INTO TWO COMPARTMENTS, NAMELY, A LOWER COMPARTMENT TO CONTAIN THE LIQUID ELEMENT, AND AN UPPER COMPARTMENT TO CONTAIN THE SOLID ELEMENT, SAID UPPER COMPARTMENT LYING WHOLLY WITHIN THE CIRCULAR OUTLINE OF THE TOP OF THE GLASS, AT LEAST A PORTION OF SAID PARTITION COMPRISING A VERTICAL WALL WITH ITS TOP EDGE SUBSTANTIALLY FLUSH WITH THE UPPER EDGE OF THE GLASS, AND EXTENDING STRAIGHT DOWN FROM SAID UPPER EDGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE GLASS, THE WIDTH OF SAID LOWER COMPARTMENT, AT EVERY POINT BETWEEN THE TOP AND THE BOTTOM, BEING NO GREATER THAN AT THE TOP, SAID GLASS HAVING A VERTICALLY DISPOSED, ELONGATED HOLLOW SPACE BETWEEN SAID PARTITION WALL AND THE SIDE WALL OF THE GLASS EXTENDING FROM A POINT IMMEDIATELY BENEATH SAID UPPER COMPARTMENT TO THE BOTTOM OF THE GLASS, SAID SPACE BEING OPEN AT ITS LOWER END. 